Category: Soft Focus

Dang groundhog….early Spring my foot!!  Here it is, March 23rd, and we have snow on the ground yet again!  The snow definitely did “drop” today….and it dropped on my cute little “Snow Drop” flowers that finally came to life in the garden last week.  The image above is a scene from my back yard that shows the various stages of tree growth.  I have some beautiful evergreens that are full and lush, and then some that have totally lost all of their needles.  Some of my giant Oak trees are still hanging onto their leaves from last year, adding some color to the landscape.  All of them were blanketed with a wet heavy snow today so I had to take a few minutes and go out with my camera.  The image above was taken with the Lensbaby Composer and soft focus optic then processed with an oil painting effect.  The image below is one of my Snow Drop flowers, still wet from the snow and rain.  It was taken with my 100mm macro lens and processed with a watercolor effect.  Looks like more snow is on the way tonight…..good grief!  🙁

The animal shelters are overflowing with wonderful dogs and cats who want nothing more than a nice home and family to love them.  Please please…if you are thinking of adding a pet to your family, visit your local animal shelter instead of buying a pet at a pet store or from a breeder!!

I stopped by a local park yesterday to see what was left of Fall color.  Not much, to be honest.  There were some splashes of red & yellow, but also trees that had completely lost their leaves already.  Still I found plenty to photograph and I’ll post a few images over the next couple of days.  In one area of the park, the ground was completely covered with pine needles.  These always make a nice simple composition.  This image was shot with the Lensbaby Composer and soft focus optic.  Processing was done in Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

Tara is recouperating after surgery yesterday to remove a tumor on her back.  A lump was discovered late last year and removed in January.  It was biopsied and found to be cancerous.  This type of fibrosarcoma is difficult to remove as cells can remain after the lump is removed.   There is also a chance that it will return.   It did…and quickly.  By March she had another lump in nearly the same spot.  At age 16, it was a difficult decision on whether to put her through another surgery, but the alternative was that the tumor would continue to grow.  In consulting with our veterinarian, it was decided that the best option was to remove it before it grew any larger.  Yesterday was a tough day for Tara, but she is doing better today.  She’s been resting on the windowsill and alternating between naps and bird-watching.  Her stitches will be removed in 2 weeks.  In the meantime, she is getting a lot of TLC and many many kisses.  I took the image above today with the Lensbaby 3G and a soft focus filter.